Tire Stewardship grants 5-year annual grant to Ocean Legacy Fund

Tire Stewardship, a Victoria, British Columbia-based company that helps producers fulfill extended producer responsibility (EPR), has announced it will provide a five-year annual grant of $30,000 to Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF). The funding will be used to support OLF scrap tire cleanup expeditions across British Columbia. 

“This funding will allow us to assist more communities in physically removing pollution from ecologically sensitive environments so that we can create cleaner and safer places for wildlife, communities and eco-tourism,” says Chloé Dubois, OLF executive director. “Together with Tire Stewardship BC, we look forward to cleaning up more of our beautiful province and keeping our landfills and oceans cleaner.” 

OLF was created in 2013 and is a Canadian nonprofit organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution response programs. It combines sustainable technologies, education and training to convert plastic pollution into economic value while providing communities with the tools they need to protect the environment.  

“Ocean Legacy Foundation is an important partner of ours and we’re delighted to offer them our support over a multiyear period,” says Rosemary Sutton, executive director of Tire Stewardship. “They’re doing important work to protect our oceans, combat pollution in our communities and divert waste from landfills. For example, in 2022, OLF removed over 2,400 scrap tires from a small island off the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, and the tires were sent to a tire recycling facility in Delta, British Columbia. 

“OLF is the only organization that accepts foam-filled tires from beach cleanups and dock deconstructions. They remove the foam from the tires, and then we’re able to recycle them. Prior to their help with the foam removal, these tires ended up in our landfills. What is also great about our partnership with Ocean Legacy Foundation and these cleanup expeditions is that the scrap tires that are collected in British Columbia are also processed and repurposed in the province, contributing to the circular economy.”